Political parties perform important roles in European societies. Parties are institutions in which citizens with similar political views organise, develop political programmes and actively participate in the political process. They are vital for democracy because parties offer the most clear-cut political choices that are put to the electorate. Parties are also recruitment organisations, through w...

Many people say they wish their political parties would work together more often, try to find a consensus, stop arguing so much. Modern political parties are likely to take this at face value, and find more agreements than are desirable. It seems to be happening at the moment in the USA. Both Presidential candidates agree that

When you're engaged with research on small political parties, such as the Socialist Party and Socialist Workers' Party, concepts drawn from political science can be a hindrance. According to S.L. Fisher's 1980 paper, 'The Decline-of-Parties Thesis and the Role of Minor Parties', research in small parties tends to be neglected because researchers are more likely to be attra...

Europarties, officially political parties at European level, are seen as a means to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of the EU citizens. The existing treaty offers a legal base for rules on the Europarties and their funding. We describe what the Treaty of Lisbon proposes before looking at some of the secondary legislation concerning European political parties and t...

Asked about the credit card summit and whether the political parties were profiting from credit card companies, the PMS said that questions in relation to the behaviour of political parties were best addressed to the political parties themselves. Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was wrong for political parties to profit from 20% interest on a credit card, the PMS said that the Prime Minister...

Personally, I agree with the notion that individuals have a right to choose whether they contribute to political parties and which parties they contribute. It strikes me that there is an inconsistency between the rules that apply to the union member (whose political contributions must be approved by the individual member and set to the indivual's preferred party) and the rules that apply to s...

Whilst the political meltdown here seems more than likely to benefit the smaller parties, other nations across Europe are bracing themselves for seismic shifts in the political landscape. The European elections may well see some radical developments on the continent. In Italy we will see the first serious political test of the parties since the Berlusconi victory which saw the far left and Green P...

When the political parties agree it usually means you should look out for your wallet. - John Redwood. Too true. The only thing political parties seem to have in common is a desire to get hold of our money.

Britons think political parties are the most corrupt sector of UK public life, according to a poll.

REFERENDA, let's face it, are a political tactic. Political parties that propose them, and those that reject them, do so for tactical, political reasons.